1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of antenna mountings and more particularly to the field of antenna mountings for attachment to recreational vehicles and boats as well as stationary objects.
2. Discussion of the Background
Antenna mounting systems for objects such as recreational vehicles and boats present many design challenges. In particular, such systems are normally attached to the exterior of the vehicle, boat, or other supporting object and are exposed to the outside weather conditions and the motion of the vehicle or boat. The system must then not only be securely attached to the supporting object but also must be strong enough to protect the relatively delicate, inner antenna element and electronics connecting the antenna element to the interior of the vehicle or boat and to the televisions or other devices in it.
In a common arrangement, the antenna element is housed in a relatively large antenna head that can be secured to a much smaller pedestal that is attached to the exterior of the vehicle or boat. The pedestal and antenna head typically have mating, threaded portions and the antenna head can then be screwed onto the pedestal. A problem that frequently arises in doing so is that the coaxial cable running from the antenna element downwardly through the antenna head and pedestal is also rotated or twisted during this assembly process. The result particularly with multiple revolutions of the antenna head about the pedestal is that the twisted cable can break or worse, the cable can pull and twist the relatively delicate antenna element and its cable attachments and severely damage the unit. The twisted cable can also undesirably pull and twist the electronic devices and attachments below the pedestal leading to the interior of the recreational vehicle or boat and the televisions or other devices in it.
To avoid such twisting problems, some systems use a clamping arrangement wherein the antenna head is moved vertically or axially downwardly onto the pedestal and then the clamping members manually tightened about the pedestal. Although this can avoid the twisting problem, it presents other problems. In particular, the antenna head housing the antenna element in most such systems extends radially outwardly much farther than the pedestal. Additionally, the height of the pedestal is purposely designed to be as short as possible so the antenna head will be as close as possible to the exterior of the vehicle or boat to minimize the resistance forces from wind and the motion of the vehicle or boat. The result is that there is very little room to reach, see, and tighten the clamping members onto the pedestal. Further, a tool and usually a specialty tool must be provided and used to accomplish the tightening. This can add expense to the overall system in having to make and package the tool and provide instructions for its use. It can also complicate and delay the installation process particularly if the installer does not read the instructions or misplaces or loses the tool.
With these and other problems in mind, the present invention was developed. In it, an antenna mounting system is provided with a snapping attachment between the antenna head and pedestal so no tools and particularly no specially tools are needed. With the snapping attachment, the antenna head can be moved axially downwardly onto the pedestal without any rotating or twisting of the antenna head or connecting cables running through it and the pedestal. Additionally, structure is provided to initially align the antenna head and pedestal with a minimal amount of relative rotation between them and to positively prevent the antenna head from being rotated relative to the pedestal during the final steps of the installation process.